The Grueling Grilling Grimoire Part 1: First attempt

You may recall I just had a birthday last week. To celebrate, Adriana got me a a brand new gas grill so I could have a new hobby. I've recently started to become more interested in making my own tasty/fancy foods. It started off with making our own pizza (which really was all Adriana's work), followed by Sushi and then specialty desserts (an apple crostata is my favorite so far!).

Made TONS of different pizza (from left to right): Mexican, Ryan's Inferno, Mediterranean, Supreme, Apple pizza, Hawaiian, Smore

Apple Crostini

So now I am determined to become the best griller in the family. What do I know about grilling? Absolutely NOTHING. Heck, I've never even used one before. But I have my new shiny toy and I am excited to try it out.

The first Sunday's Menu can be found below:

Sixteen-Spice-Rubbed Chicken Breast with Black Pepper Vinegar Sauce and Green Onion Slaw

All the ingredients for the chicken

Ingredients

Green Onion Slaw:

1 cup coarsely chopped green onions, white and green parts

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

2 teaspoons honey

2 serrano chiles

2 tablespoons mayonnaise

1/2 cup canola oil

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 small head of purple cabbage, finely shredded

1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced

2 teaspoons poppy seeds

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves

Black Pepper Vinegar Sauce:

1/4 cup rice wine vinegar

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil

3 tablespoons Dijon mustard

2 teaspoons honey

1 teaspoon kosher salt

3/4 teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper

 

Chicken:

1 tablespoon ancho chile powder

1 tablespoon pasilla chile powder

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 tablespoon ground coriander

1 tablespoon ground ginger

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons garlic powder

2 teaspoons onion powder

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cloves

1 teaspoon ground fennel seeds

Heaping 1/4 teaspoon chile de arbol

Kosher salt

2 teaspoons coarsely ground black pepper

Heaping 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

4 (8-ounce) boneless chicken breasts, skin on

1/4 cup canola oil

Black Pepper Vinegar Sauce (recipe follows)

Mexicali-style corn with lime-butter and cilantro

Ingredients

4 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 lime, juice of
1 lime zest
1 teaspoon honey
kosher salt
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 small red onion
1 jalapeno
1 red bell pepper
2 garlic cloves
3 ears of grilled corn
fresh ground pepper
1/4 cup coarse chopped cilantro

Grilled potatoes with spicy tomato mayonnaise

 So here is how they turned out:

Everyone pitched in! (Clark did as well, but I was so nervous checking his work that I didn't get to take a picture)

Setting the table with the finished product

So after about 2 hours of hard work, I must say it was pretty good